Espinoza, who has worked at universities and community colleges in five states over the last 30 years, was appointed president of Coastal Bend College in June 2012. Before assuming the top role at the rural South Texas community college, she served as Vice Chancellor for Educational Planning and Services at Yuba Community College District in Marysville, Calif. A first-generation college student, she began her college path with a College Assistance Migrant Program scholarship after 18 years as an agricultural farm worker. Espinoza has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, a master’s in rehabilitation psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a Ph.D. in rehabilitation psychology and educational psychology from UW-Madison. After completing a post-doctorate in the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas at Austin, she held administrative positions such as Vice President for Workforce Learning Services at Arizona Western College in Yuma, Ariz. As a young college administrator, she worked with minority serving institutions as a Kellogg Fellow sponsored by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).
